#1 Perspective
Ever wondered what it's like to stare right into the face of 'this present darkness'?
What if you had to do it daily?
Yea, nah...
But you know people, lots of them who do it year in year out. The pews of your church are mostly filled with them.
Want to bear more gospel fruit in your church? You need to fix this key disciple-making disconnect.
Perspective = a position from which something is viewed, context of viewpoints.
At risk of stating the obvious...
Your perspective as a pastor is from the pulpit: "Why can't they get it?"
Your congregation's perspective is from the pew: "That's interesting, but what' difference does that make to me?"
...so what?
D - I - S - C - O - N - N - E - C - T
That's what!
...and when it comes to making disciples, that's A LOT!
To deal with this comprehensively, we'd ideally need to consider everything that has brought you to the pulpit. And everything your members have brought with them into the pew (a.k.a. baggage).
But for the sake of time...
Broadly speaking, you've spent the vast majority of the past week (6/7 days) in the Bible, in prayer, in the company of other Christians, and the remainder in other church business (organising, admin etc). Your identity in Christ is reinforced by much of what is around you every day.
Add to this, you have been doing this pretty much every week for 10-30 years!
Add to this, you've dedicated your life vocationally to the work of the Gospel. And to prepare, you spent 3-4 years at Seminary studying the Bible.
Wow!
So you come to church, to the pulpit, to disciple-making already deeply shaped yourself by many years deep in God's Word. You come to disciple-making from a world immersed in the Bible and surrounded by Bible people. It is 'almost' an automatic reflex for you, connecting the hearing God's word and doing what it says.
You 'stand and deliver' on your sermon every Sunday, only to be disappointed as you head home wondering why your members don't get it.
Your People's Perspective.
Broadly speaking, your people have spent the past week (6/7 days) immersed in the world (not the word). Their identity in Christ is under constant attack from the relentless bombardment of worldly messaging, through work, news media, marketing and advertising, and cultural lifestyle pressures. For many, the gospel reminder from church struggles to last out the day.
They are staring 'this present darkness' in the face daily. All of it dishonouring to God. All of it used by Satan again them and all the good work you put in on Sunday.
Then next Sunday, after squeezing in a few chores, your people manage to get their way to church, drop off the kids at Sunday School, find their pew, get comfortable, but still flustered, unfocused and irritable. And, then they look up to see you at the pulpit about to share some godly wisdom and insight they are not prepared to hear.
This disconnect is real and natural. It is to be expected.
Even a 'biblical' perspective is different depending on where you sit.
It is YOUR move!
And please don't expect that your people should move and make the changes needed to meet you at your pulpit. Ninety-five percent of them wouldn't know how.
Your the leader. It's your space. It's encumbered upon you to shift. It's on you to make the move towards them.
So, next week when you prepare your sermon, and especially the application, remember your people see the world and their life from a different perspective to you. That means, the way the passage needs to be brought to bear in the lives of your people may be very different to how it is brought to bear in your own life.
Reflection
Why not take some time today to reflect on how this difference in perspective might be impacting disciple-making in your church.
Next week, let's look at some things you can start doing to bridge this perspective gap and connect.
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